This conventional and undistinguished history of baseball's Brooklyn-Los Angeles franchise begins with a brief discussion of the teams that preceded the Dodgers, then launches into the story of the squads that played in Flatbush. Cohen ( A Magic Summer ) relates familiar anecdotes about the Daffiness Boys of the '20s and early '30s and their successors, stopping along the way to talk of Jackie Robinson and the racial integration of the sport. Then comes the shift to the West Coast, the vast crowds of spectators the Dodgers attract in L.A. and the unusual record of great successes and dismal failures compiled there, culminating in the completely unexpected World Series victory of 1988. But, colorful as the team is and has been, there is little of that excitement in these pages. Photos not seen by PW. (Apr.)